Planted Tanks Are Great!

[lljdma06]

Here are some photos of my low-maintenance, easy-to-care-for planted tanks. They are well-stocked with little fishies that like to frolic and play.

2.5g, no ferts, no CO2, low-light, inert substrate, heavy filtration.

20g, low-light, inert substrate, no ferts, no stems, heavy filtration. Has a simple Nutrafin CO2 system with a DIY mix that I'll be gradually reducing. This tank has tannins from the wood, not everybody's cup of tea, but great for the plants.

Planted tanks can be fun and easy. Go exercise your aquatic green thumbs.

Thanks for looking. Cheers!

llj

 

[Maximus]

Awesome setups, really well done

That 20 gallon looks great


Keep up the good work B)

 

[bubblesburst80]

those tanks looks great, its good to know it can be done easily

xXx

 

[AmberMc]

Haha, after looking at the first picture- I thought the tank was 20g or so, until I scrolled down a little and saw the flower pot next to it. Anyway - Beautiful tanks! Maybe you could give us pale-green thumbs a list of some of the plants you keep so well in a non co2 environment? I'm just starting out with live plants- and I love them. I plan on switching all my tanks over gradually, but a couple ideas for new plants would be awesome.

 

[ox5477]

The light you have for the 2.5G is the same desk lamp I have. I would never think it was bright enough to allow for plant growth!! Haha

Tanks look great

 

[geemacd]

tanks look superb, I like the 2nd tank, think the tannins make it look more natural, mine did that for a while.. it was nice

 

[three-fingers]

Love your tanks, especially the second one with the tannins and the algae free (wish mine was, the fact my fish eat the new leaves doesn't help ) Anubias . It just looks so natural!

I also really like the way the plant is growing out the water in the first one, is that Bacopa carolina?

Can't wait till I have the money/time to have a second attempt at a planted tank .

 

[paul_219]

Very nice setup. Nice tank

 

[Rhykiru]

in your first tank, where did you get those small little filters

and dont the plants die if they go above the water?

 

[lljdma06]

Maybe you could give us pale-green thumbs a list of some of the plants you keep so well in a non co2 environment? I'm just starting out with live plants- and I love them. I plan on switching all my tanks over gradually, but a couple ideas for new plants would be awesome.

In my signature, there is a link to a list of easy plants that can be grown in lower light with/without CO2 injection.

I also really like the way the plant is growing out the water in the first one, is that Bacopa carolina?

Yes, it is Bacopa.

in your first tank, where did you get those small little filters

and dont the plants die if they go above the water?

They are a little nano filter made by RedSea. Great and pretty inexpensive. I purchased mine at a LFS, but I'm sure you can get them online. I usually use two filters in my tanks or one that is rated for a much larger tank. The water circulates better. This tank doesn't have CO2 injected, so I actually encourage a lot of gas exchange.

No, many aquatic plants have two types of growth, submerged (the kind we normally see) and emersed (which is the type you are seeing in the 2.5g). Often, the leaf shape and texture is quite different between the two types of growth, though it's not so obvious in Bacopa. In many stemplants, encouraging emersed growth is the only way to induce flower production, as many plants flower above the water's surface. Bacopa has little purple flowers, which I'm trying to see if I can get it to appear in the emersed growth.

 

[Rhykiru]

oh ok, thanks for clearing that up.

So its kinda likes water lilys etc..

 

[Matty P]

Very nice tanks the plants look great. Like your betta.

 

[lljdma06]

Very nice tanks the plants look great. Like your betta.

I was very frustrated today. Poor Alberich, the betta in question, is now confined to a bowl. One of my cats decided that Bacopa would be great in salad, so as she was picking off a few stems, the lid of the tank crashed onto my floor into a bazillion pieces. Alberich's a jumper, so there was no way I was going to let him be in a tank with no lid. I still have some cories I rehomed temporarily to boost the nitrates in this tank, but they're not big jumpers, so they can stay until I get a new lid. The tank will eventually house pygmy corydoras, but my source hasn't gotten them in yet, and I have to keep nutrients in the tank for the plants. This is a low-tech tank that relies primarily on rootabs and fish waste.

llj

 

[doubledee]

Great setups, they really do look fantastic and it shows what you can do without high tech equipment and lighting. Well done.

 

[syntax_error]

Whoa that 2.5g looks great! Now I want one like that